Fai's Story
The afternoon sun beats down on snow covered Castelia City. The fresh snow pack reflects the strong light back up, making it difficult to keep one's eyes open. Without a single cloud in the sky, the azure blue world above is on full display for anyone to see. The temperatures have barely risen above the single digits ever since the morning, only scratching 11 degrees for one of the coldest days on record in many years. The cold, however, doesn't bother all the denizens of Castelia, and as the day progresses, more and more people and Pokemon start to come out and continue their daily lives, walking, talking, driving, working, playing, eating, you name it, it's being done right now.
For two Pokemon in one apartment, Mint and Fai, there's not much for either of them to do. Fai sits on the couch in the living room, watching a drama show on TV while Mint is lying down on the bed in Fai's guest bedroom. He's in deep thought about everything that's happened over the last few days, especially the constant biting feeling of doubt. He tries to piece everything together in his head, but he can't make sense of the problem that would cause him to doubt everything that's happened.
"I just don't understand… Castelia City is the place where I thought I'd be starting over and living a brand new life. I've got Fai by my side to help me, she got me a job working at that cafe, I'm not being bullied or put down on a daily basis nor am I at risk of being killed by someone from my own colony, and everything I could ever want or need is here. I'm finally starting to be accepted by a few people and Pokemon, some of them will even appreciate what I'm doing or will be doing for them, and pretty soon, I'll be just like everyone else. This is everything I've wanted since that day, yet, I'm constantly reminded of the forest, my parents, and the life I ran away from… it's almost like something's trying to tell me that I've made a mistake or something. Is this the pendant's doing? Is Naomi's spirit trying to tell me that I've been wrong this entire time? That can't be right, she'd understand my reasons completely, she understood why I broke into her den in the first place, so that can't be it."
He looks up at the ceiling and grabs the pendant with his left paw to see if it's glowing but like he thought, it isn't. He puts it back down and shakes his head slightly. Like he said, he's finally getting everything he wants but the past continues to haunt him. He tries not to dwell on it for too long, but a thought comes to mind, one that he hadn't thought of. His parents told him something very interesting one day, and while it seemed at the time like it made no sense, he understands it a little more now. "You might not understand why certain things happen in our lives. It can be as small as a recurring thought or as big as someone that's very close to you dying. There's a reason behind everything that happens, so always remember that, Mint. Nothing is without reason."
He slams his paws on the bed, it makes a 'thud' sound. "If that's true, then what's the reason for me doubting everything that's happening so far!? I've got everything I need, there shouldn't be any doubts!" he thinks to himself as the thought angers him.
From the living room, Fai calls out to him. "Mint, was that you that made that sound?"
"Y-yeah… that was m-me…" he says, trying his best not to sound upset.
"Alright, I was just asking because one time someone tried to break in here and the sound I heard was almost exactly like the one you made."
With this, he decides to get out of the bed. It's no use lying there and thinking about something that makes no sense to him. He walks out of the room and into the living room. The sound of the TV can be heard as it's moderately loud and with his extremely good hearing, it comes in crystal clear. He looks at Fai, she's happy and lacks any worries or doubts about what she's doing. She's living the life she wants to live without anything from her past coming back to bite her or haunt her over every little good thing that happens to her. This fact bothers Mint. It just further makes him question why he keeps feeling that way.
He walks over to the couch and she notices him. She looks at him. "So you finally decided to get out of that bed huh? You were lying there for almost 2 hours, are you feeling better about whatever it was that bothered you earlier?"
He looks down. "...Not really…"
She frowns. "Why not?"
He closes his eyes and turns his head away, staying silent for a few seconds before speaking up. "...W-what…. What made you come to Castelia, and d-do you ever doubt your c-choices that lead to t-that decision?"
This is a question she was not prepared to hear. She looks down at her feet for a moment. She lets loose a weak chuckle before looking back at him. She speaks, but her voice is much different this time, it sounds serious and ever so slightly sad. "You want to know why I came to Castelia and if I ever regret making the decision?"
He nods slowly, eyes still closed. He wants to know it all, perhaps hearing what she has to say might help him understand his own feelings. She sighs. "It's a very long story, and one that I usually don't tell to most Pokemon I meet. My past was a troubled one, and because of that, I try to forget about the bad times and only remember the good but even then it sometimes comes back from time to time and ruins my mood and sometimes even an entire day."
He listens intently. She breaks out into her story. "9 years ago, I said I arrived in Castelia city. There's much more to it. Before that day, I had been living in a toxic environment that I so desperately wanted to escape from but just wasn't in the best shape to do so. For most of my life, I lived in a colony of Pokemon that I wasn't born into natively."
This surprises Mint, he wasn't expecting that last part. His eyes open and he looks at her, curious as to what she means by that. She continues. "I was an orphan. My true parents… I never saw them in my life before, nor will I probably ever see them, but from what I was told by my adoptive parents, they found me just barely clinging to life as a baby. They took me in and nursed me back to health and kept me. I don't remember much as a baby, but I do remember that when I was around 6 or 7, my adoptive parents began having terrible issues of their own. My father began to take up some weird substance that I would learn to be alcohol and he drank it in large quantities. He would get violent, start yelling and screaming at everyone in the den we lived in. I got the brunt of it most of the time. If he looked at you while like this, it was almost guaranteed that he was gonna come over and start spitting in your face."
A tear drops from her eyes but she keeps going strong. "It got worse as time went on. He started to attack without warning and would beat anyone that got in his path or disagreed with him. If you called him out for his problem with alcohol, he'd crush your face in and nearly kill you. It happened a few times with some of the members of the colony we were in. I got beat many times by him and they only got worse and worse as I started to avoid going home. If I dared walk into the den late at night, I'd get the beating of my life. It doesn't just stop there… my adoptive mother… she would get into daily arguments with him over the most trivial of things for hours on end. The many nights I spent sleepless and out in the darkness of the night just to hopefully see the next day and avoid a beating." a few more tears drop from her eyes.
"When I turned 8, he started going out and bringing home random female Pokemon from around the area and used them for something. I remember moans and screams coming from his room. I didn't like it so I decided to tell my mother and when she saw what was happening, they both got into a massive fight, ending with both of them badly hurt. The next morning, my father came after me because he somehow knew I was the one that ratted him out and…" she grabs part of her right wing. "...he beat me down harder than ever before. I still have the scar from when he cut my wing open." she hops off the couch and goes over to him to show him.
True to her word, there's a scar across her right wing, it's faded away mostly, but some of it is still there. He can't imagine the pain she must've felt when that happened. She has tears in her eyes. "It was that day that made me want to run away, but I couldn't. If I ran away earlier in the day, I could've flown off without problems, but with a wounded wing, there was no way I could run. For the whole year, I tried my best to avoid getting beat so it could heal, but even then, I couldn't really avoid it all the time. Being thrown around, hit with attacks more powerful than anything I could've imagined, it hurt so much… But then, I woke up one day near the end of the year and saw that my wing was almost fully healed. My time came and I knew I could leave, but even then, I couldn't because my father started realizing what I was planning on doing and did his best to stop me from leaving."
She begins to lighten up a little. "Almost another year of hell and that fateful night… I knew it would be the one… the stars were twinkling and there was a new moon in the sky. Darkness was on my side and so was the distraction of another female Pokemon to entice my father into using her. While they did it, I took as much as I possibly could, food, drink, and the little money we had and I flew off, heading towards Castelia City as I heard stories about many Pokemon getting new beginnings there and I wanted to start all over and forget about the terrible life I left behind."
She takes a deep breath. "And so, I met Scott and you know how the rest goes. We're here now and I have to say, there's nothing I'd give to go back to that shithole. I loved my adoptive mother, but my father, I hope someone got him the help he needed. If not, then that's too bad. They're not my problem now and after all, it was much better to come here then risk having my wings cut off my body, it was bad enough that one was cut open."
He thinks about it for a moment. "...you have no r-regrets about leaving?"
She nods. "Yup! I do sometimes wish I could find out what happened to them after all these years, but at the same time, I don't know if they'll remember me, especially my drunk ass father. It's a shame too, they took good care of me for a while until that shit started to happen. I don't know how he acquired the alcohol, but apparently, where ever he was getting it from seemed to have an endless supply. I do regret not being able to help him when it first started but I was a child, what good could I do as a child in that situation?" she shakes her head a little and then shrugs. "It's all in the past now and it doesn't really matter that much to me anymore because I'm here now and life is good."
Mint now knows that Fai had a past that's just as troubled as his, if not, even worse. She chuckles. "For all I know, you could've had something happen that's much worse than what I lived through and that could be your reason for coming to Castelia. I've told you my true story, now I hope that sometime soon you'll tell me your story, it isn't right if you know mine but I don't know yours."
He frowns a little. "M-maybe…" It's only been a day with her and he still isn't 100% sure he can entrust her with his life story. Her life was much worse than his before she came here, and yet, she managed to put it past her and live without any major regrets. He's torn between the past, present, and future. As it stands, going back to living in the past will let him go home, but warrants putting himself in danger and having to deal with the constant bullying and down talking that he's learned to deal with. Living in the future, however, will lead him to have a place in Castelia City along with a job, plus all of the good things that've happened to him so far, but the constant reminders of his past may eventually drive him nuts and since he still has many things to check out in Castelia, the unfamiliar city could be very dangerous to him. If he lives in the current time though, he'll be looking at both sides, being unable to pick which one to stick with. This makes him want to curl up and sleep it off with the hopes that tomorrow will be a much better day. He's got his first day of work after all, and perhaps focusing on his next task will get his mind off his doubts and feelings.
PD: A somewhat shorter chapter revealing a bit of Fai's backstory. How curious, both Mint and Fai have troubled pasts... Seeya in the next chapter!